The volatile mix of a slowing economy and greater restrictions on bankruptcy filings is likely to keep Peter F. Lake, the new president and CEO of the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Los Angeles, very busy in the coming months.

After 20 years of senior-level financial services management, most recently as executive vice president and western group regional manager for Fleet Capital Corp., Lake is prepared for the challenge.

“We haven’t seen a significant increase (in clients), but the first signs are there.

“And for a number of people, bankruptcy will not be an option,” he says. “Services like ours will be required to establish whether or not the debtors are capable (of paying off their debts). In effect, less people will be able to avoid repaying they’re creditors.”

Lake said that roughly 25 percent of CCCS-L.A.’s clients are in debt-management programs, in which CCCS-L.A. negotiates a payment plan on behalf of a debtor, usually working out more favorable terms, such as a reduced interest rate or extended payment terms. The balance of the not-for-profit agency’s clients receives debt counseling.

Lake expects that balance to shift in the near future, with more clients needing to go into a debt-management program.

In the future, Lake said, he plans to implement more proactive programs to help clients avoid the use of a debt-management program. “We will be looking for opportunities to work in partnership with corporations to provide services that will result in better educated and informed consumer,” he says.

As for the change from the corporate banking environment to the not-for-profit world, Lake has already noticed a difference.

“Aside from anything else, there’s a tremendous sense of satisfaction from the sense of socially responsible services that we provide,” he says.

Accounting & Consulting

Adam Thompson, Alida Lasdon and Kenny Hong have all been promoted to senior supervisors at RBZ LLP, an accounting firm in Los Angeles. In their new positions, they will supervise staff audits and reviews, preparing individual, partnership, corporate, S-corporate and trust returns, as well as train entry-level accountants on a variety of tax returns.

Advertising & P.R.

Harry Greenwood has been named chief operating officer at the Blaze Co., a marketing communications firm in Venice. He will be responsible for overseeing the firm’s facilities, operations, human resources, profitability model and Web site evolution. Most recently, Greenwood worked in the field of executive recruitment, where he owned and operated a number of different companies.

Arts

Glenn A. Baker has been appointed to the position of chief financial and administrative officer of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association. He will have complete responsibility for the association’s financial activities and will serve as a key member of the senior management team responsible for setting the strategic direction of the association. Baker was most recently vice president, finance and operations for Walt Disney Art Classics.

Banking & Finance

Barrey D. Davis has been appointed president and chief operating officer of Coast Business Credit in Torrance, a lending division of Southern Pacific Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Imperial Credit Industries Inc. Davis has worked for Coast since March 1998 as senior vice president, national sales manager.

Richard G. Klugman has joined Jefferies & Co. Inc., an institutional brokerage firm and investment bank in Los Angeles. He will be managing director of telecom services research, responsible for enhancing the firm’s integrated research platform focus on strategic industries. Most recently, Klugman was a senior analyst covering telecom services at Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette Inc.

Entertainment

Oscar A. Aguilar has been promoted to senior vice president of finance for the Jim Henson Co. in Los Angeles. He will supervise all aspects of the company’s financial reporting, accounting, finance, tax and information systems worldwide. Aguilar has been working for Henson since 1990, most recently serving as vice president of finance.

Aaron Davis has been promoted to the post of licensing director, broadcast and cable, at Megatrax Production Music in North Hollywood. In his new post, Davis will be responsible for the creative and contractual relationships between Megatrax, cable networks and broadcast television stations. He was most recently an account executive with the company.

Stephen Hendry has been promoted to senior vice president, financial planning at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. In addition to overseeing MGM’s financial planning process and serving as a liaison to the company’s bank group, Hendry will assume responsibility for managing treasury operations, including cash management. He was most recently vice president, financial planning. Eric Vilette has been promoted to senior vice president, operations at MGM Home Entertainment Group, a unit of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. He will oversee all aspects of procurement, distribution and credit for the home entertainment division, both domestically and internationally. Villette has been with the company since 1997, most recently serving as vice president, distribution.

Ashley Marable has been promoted to vice president and general sales manager of Fox Latin America Channels, which oversees advertising sales and distribution for Canal Fox, Fox Sports, Fox Kids and the National Geographic Channel. In this newly created position, Marable takes on the responsibility of all advertising and affiliate sales for the Fox Latin America Channels. Most recently, she served as vice president of advertising sales for Fox Latin America, a position she held since 1993.

Zsuzsanna Murphy has been named product manager for DreamWorks Records in Los Angeles. She will be responsible for overseeing marketing campaigns for artists such as Nelly Furtado, Rufus Wainwright, Eels, Long Beach Dub Allstars, Creeper Lagoon and Ours. Murphy was most recently a senior director at Elektra Entertainment Group.

Richard Wellerstein has been named senior director, theatrical programming and acquisition for In Demand, a pay-per-view network. He is based in Los Angeles and is responsible for theatrical film programming and acquisitions, with a goal to build programming for video-on-demand. Wellerstein comes to the position from Sony/Columbia Tristar, where he worked for the last two years as vice president, library development.

Health Care

James T. Yoshioka has been named president and CEO of Citrus Valley Health Partners in Covina. He will be responsible for leading all Citrus Valley Health Partners’ facilities, including Citrus Valley Medical Center, Medical Center Inter-Community Campus in Covina, Citrus Valley Medical Center Queen of the Valley Campus in West Covina, Foothill Presbyterian Hospital in Glendora and Citrus Valley Hospice in West Covina. Yoshioka was most recently president and CEO of Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia.

Insurance

Charles C. Nam has been appointed a managing director of the MONY Group’s offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Orange County. As a managing director, Nam will be responsible for recruiting, training and supervising financial professionals for MONY Life Insurance Co. and MONY Securities Corp. in the Los Angeles area.

Law

Kenneth Krug has rejoined the Los Angeles office of Proskauer Rose LLP as a partner. His practice includes a number of business and institutional clients with real estate, merger and acquisition and general corporate and commercial law needs. Krug was most recently a partner at the Santa Monica law firm Liner Yankelevitz.

Gregg J. Loubier has joined the real estate practice of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble & Mallory LLP in Los Angeles as a partner. He specializes in real estate finance and general real estate matters, including the representation of lenders and borrowers in the origination of portfolio and securitized commercial mortgage loans. Loubier was most recently at Andrews & Kruth LLP.

Media

Marie Kordus has been appointed senior vice president, Los Angeles at Newmark Communications, a media placement company in Los Angeles. She will be responsible for all operations of the firm’s Los Angeles office. Kordus was previously a general manager of both KPWR-FM and KLAX-FM.

New Media

Michael Kumin has been named executive vice president of corporate strategy at Creative Planet, a business-to-business technology and information services company. He will head up strategic development for the company, an expansion to his most recent role as executive vice president.

Alex Rodriguez has been appointed to the newly created position of executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Latin America Online Inc., a Torrance Internet and technology company dedicated to the Latino market. He will lead LAOL’s marketing efforts, including all marketing, sales, publicity, advertising and brand marketing. Rodriguez comes to the company from VirtualHispanic.com, a marketing and public relations company.

Real Estate

Don Ferris has joined the investment services group of Colliers Seeley International, a Los Angeles-based commercial real estate brokerage. He will be responsible for identifying new clients, properties and business, guiding clients to investment-caliber properties that fit their specific needs and then working with Colliers Seeley’s brokerage teams to complete transactions. Ferris was most recently a director in Cushman & Wakefield’s financial services group.

John Ollen has been promoted to senior managing director of the western region of Insignia/ESG, a commercial real estate services provider in Los Angeles. He will be working closely with the company’s brokerage services group in order to grow Insignia/ESG’s presence in key submarkets, such as West Los Angeles, West San Fernando Valley and the South Bay. Ollen spent the last four years heading up the agency leasing group for Insignia/ESG.

Tori Robinson has been promoted to vice president of sales and marketing for the Los Angeles County commercial department of Old Title Republic Co. in Glendale. She will be responsible for expanding the commercial department’s client base throughout the country. Robinson has been with Old Republic since 1989, serving most recently as senior commercial account executive.